NEWS

Australia's Victoria state government, Melbourne, is reviewing its $20 million, three-year media services contract. Incumbent Leeds Media & Communications is believed to be participating. A decision is expected by October.

U.S. Robotics, Skokie, Ill., confirmed it is talking to Tatham Euro RSCG, Chicago, about a possible assignment for its personal communications division. The marketer has worked with Michael Flora & Associates, Troy, Mich., in the past. A decision is expected within the week.

SmithKline Beecham, London, reassigned $50 million in Bayer aspirin and other Bayer analgesics business to Grey Advertising and Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide from BBDO Worldwide, all New York. The move resolves a conflict for BBDO, which had been handling analgesics advertising for SmithKline and competitor Bayer in the U.S.

American Red Cross, New York, to DDB Needham Worldwide, for the 1996 American Red Cross Community Campaign. Estimated spending is $5 million to $10 million.

Mobil Corp., New York, to Burrell Communications Group, Chicago, for the marketer's new $4 million African-American account.

MGM/UA Home Video, Santa Monica, Calif., to Saatchi & Saatchi DFS/Pacific, Torrance, for the $3 million launch of the first eight in a series of 16 James Bond videocassettes coinciding with the new theatrical release "GoldenEye."

Motorola, Schaumburg, Ill., to Anderson & Lembke, New York, for its PowerPC RISC microprocessor account, from BBDO Worldwide, San Francisco. A November multimedia campaign is planned.

3M's Floor Graphics advertising network has signed up three chains for its retail floor point-of-purchase displays. The chains are Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co., with 10 of the floor graphics in each of its more than 1,000 stores nationally; more than 1,200 Circle K convenience stores in California, Arizona, Nevada and Florida, with three graphics in each store; and the 70-store Bashas grocery chain, based in Phoenix, with 10 graphics in each store.

Sports Illustrated rolls out its college football season preview annual on newsstands Aug. 10. "Heart of the Huskers" features a cover shot of University of Nebraska tailback Lawrence Phillips and carries a newsstand price of $4.95.

Radio Advertising Bureau, Dallas, reported June 1995 combined local and national revenue was up 6% to $488.2 million compared with June 1994. For the year-to-date, combined national and local revenue through June rose 11% to $2.78 billion.

Computer advertising in 270 high tech publications increased 11% to 104,504 pages in the first half of 1995, according to AdScope, a Eugene, Ore.-based ad tracking service. Ad spending in the period increased 13% to $1.1 billion. Among the top 12 advertisers, ad pages actually dropped 0.8%. Microsoft Corp., which increased its ad page tally 27.7%, was the No. 1 advertiser in the period with 1,451.

ITT Corp. and Dow Jones & Co. last week agreed to buy New York City-owned TV station WNYC for $207 million and turn it into a satellite-delivered superstation offering 24-hours of sports, entertainment and financial news.

NBC, New York, offered $326 million to acquire Outlet Communications, Cranston, R.I., last week, topping a $292 million bid from Renaissance Communications, which previously agreed to buy Outlet. With the acquisition of Outlet's stations, NBC would own stations covering 23.4% of the U.S.

Competitive Media Reporting has settled a strike that began July 31 in its Darby, Pa., and West Chester data facilities. A CMR spokesman said the strike did not affect CMR's data products.

COMINGS & GOINGS

Richard Bartlett, 57, director and VP-worldwide marketing communications Eastman Kodak Co., Rochester, N.Y., who has been part of the company's estimated $50 million global agency selection, announced internally last week that he will retire this fall. No successor was named.

Betty Pat McCoy to VP-director of national broadcast, GSD&M, Austin, Texas, from director of national broadcast, Publicis/Bloom, Dallas. The agency also announced it will open a Chicago office to facilitate buying efforts. (For more people news, see Ad Age on the World Wide Web at http://www.adage.com.)

FOR THE RECORD

Major League Baseball has finally made the expected move of hiring Arlen Kantarian, exec VP-marketing and special events, Radio City Music Hall Productions, to head up MLB's marketing operations, according to sources within the sports marketing industry. However, Mr. Kantarian would assume the newly created role of president of Major League Basbeall, not president of Major League Baseball Properties, as had been expected. It's not yet known if MLB will retain the position of MLB Properties president. Such a move would model MLB after National Football League as it restructures its marketing and business operations. It's expected that MLB will make the move official by Labor Day but that Mr. Kantarian won't assume his new duties until January. Sports marketing executives also expect Mr. Kantarian to try to lure key marketing executives away from rival sports leagues, most notably the NFL, where he used to work.

Broderbund Software, Novato, Calif., a leading consumer software marketer, last week agreed to buy Learning Co., an educational software marketer in Fremont, for $440 million in the latest chapter of PC software consolidation.

Procter & Gamble's Tide is teaming with the Haggar Apparel Co.to promote the laundry detergent in 250 department stores across the country. Tide samples will be given to customers who purchase a Haggar shirt. A TV ad for the promotion, an extension of P&G's campaign touting companies clothing that promote Tide for the care their garments, was created by Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising, New York, and will launch the week of Aug. 20 and run for several months. P&

Delta Air Lines and American Express Co. last week said they will market a new cobranded credit card, the Delta SkyMiles Optima Card, early next year. Both said the card "will offer a competitive interest rate and a generous rewards structure." Separately, Delta entered into a marketing alliance with All Nippon Airways Co. to code-share on the Tokyo-Los Angeles route both serve, with additional shared routes planned for Osaka to New York; Portland, Ore.; and Honolulu.

Playboy Enterprises, Chicago, reported fourth-quarter net income for the period ended June 30 doubled to $1.2 million; revenue was up 12% to $67.3 million. For fiscal 1995, net income was $600,000, compared with a revenue loss of $9.5 million the previous year.

Pepsi-Cola USA and Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys and Texas Stadium, last week announced the NFL club has ended its 10-year relationship with Coca-Cola and formed one with Pepsi-Cola. In addition to pouring rights at the stadium for Pepsi, Diet Pepsi and Mountain Dew, the deal gives Pepsi broadcast, branding, signage and special events rights.

McDonald's Corp. and Chevron Corp. last week announced plans to open retail outlets combining McDonald's restaurants and Chevron service stations in a dozen Western states. They already operate 12 co-branded units in Texas, Louisiana and Oregon.

United Airlines, Chicago, will bring back Round-the-World flights with the addition of service to Delhi, India, beginning Dec. 14. Pan Am, the last U.S. carrier to offer such flights, discontinued the service in 1982. The airline must still obtain government and regulatory approval before the startup.

Lotus Development Corp., Cambridge, Mass., last week introduced Lotus Notes:Newsstand, a service using the company's software to distribute business publications electronically to users of Notes and the Internet. More than 50 publications have signed on, including American Demographics, Financial World and PC Week Highlights.

Western Russia's Belgorod region is taxing users of foreign languages in marketing, charging a flat $6,000 to advertise foreign names or use letters from non-Cyrillic alphabets, the Itar-Tass news agency reported. Marketers translating names into Russian pay $3,000. The tax applies to local print and outdoor ads but not to TV and radio networks.